Warmth
by poke-a-spark
Summary: It's the night of the party celebrating the return and good health of the queen and the princess, as well as the return of summer. What matters most to Elsa and Anna, however, is that it's the first night in thirteen years that neither of them feels alone.


**Warmth**

**Summary:****It's the night of the party celebrating the queen and the princess, as well as the return of summer. What matters most to Elsa and Anna, however, is that it's the first night in thirteen years that neither of them feels alone.**

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Disney's Frozen or anything associated with it. I am not making a profit off of this story. I am just a poor college kid who is obsessed/in-love-with the movie.**

_**A/N: I've yet to see the movie, though I anxiously await it. This is set towards the end; specifically, the night they bring back summer. My favorite parts/thing about Frozen is the sisterly relationship between Elsa and Anna… which is where the idea for this oneshot came from. **_

**O0o0O**

Stifling a yawn, Elsa's eyes absently wandered over to the large grandfather clock against the wall, her blue orbs widening slightly in surprise at the time displayed. Despite the extremely late hour, the party was still in full swing, with men and women of all ages and backgrounds dancing and mingling with a joyful fervor. Though it was true that she was tired, she was loath to put an end to the night's festivities, especially after the fear and turmoil she had inadvertently caused her subjects.

It was only a few minutes later, after another pesky yawn nearly slipped passed her lips, that she grudgingly decided it would be more acceptable for her to quietly retreat from the party than to fall asleep in public. Politely excusing herself from the mixed group of revelling villagers and dignitaries that she had been interacting with, Elsa purposefully glided across the room towards the corner where she had last seen Anna talking animatedly with the blond ice harvester. Escaping the crowd, her searching blue eyes immediately softened as they landed on a lone figure sitting at one of the small tables, her body unconsciously relaxing at the sight.

She suspected that it would be a long time before she would feel completely comfortable letting the younger royal out of her sight.

Bleak memories were pushed aside as fondness and amusement began warring within Elsa once she came to a stop beside her oblivious younger sister. Silently standing for a moment, she began taking in the brunette's disheveled appearance. Anna sat slumped in her seat, most of her upper body being supported by the small table, with one arm cradling her head and the other thrown haphazardly across the wooden surface. Small tufts of brown hair had escaped the confines of her braids, causing them to stick out at all angles like the spines of a porcupine and messily frame her sleeping face.

Unable to help herself, Elsa's eyes followed the rise and fall of the brunette's chest, reassuring herself once more that her beloved little sister was alive and breathing before her. Lightly resting her hand on Anna's shoulder, she was about to attempt to wake her up only to pause as her name was mumbled sleepily. It was that one muffled word that tipped the scales and allowed fondness to win, causing her lips to smooth into a small loving smile as she leaned closer.

"Anna." Elsa gently nudged Anna's shoulder as she spoke softly but clearly.

"Mmm… Nooo…" Anna groaned and her fingers twitched in response to the disturbance, her low words nigh unintelligible. "S'not nice… thrrrow… snmmm peep…le…"

Eyebrow unconsciously twitching upwards in slight humor at the garbled response, Elsa nevertheless tried again, this time increasing the strength in both her words and her nudge. "Anna, wake up. It's time to go to bed."

Anna snorted lightly and mumbled once again as she tilted her head, effectively hiding her face in the crook of her arm before settling down.

"Honestly," Elsa rolled her eyes in exasperation and sighed. About to forgo the gentle route and instead just haul the younger girl to her feet, Elsa paused as an idea quickly formed in her mind. Eyes twinkling deviously, she impulsively slid her hand from Anna's shoulder to the back of her neck, allowing a small amount of conjured ice to slip down her back underneath her dress.

"Ack!" Anna yelped, her sleepy blue eyes flying open as the cold and wet sensation registered, effectively yanking her from her slumber. Swinging an arm around to grasp at her back, she shot to her feet and stumbled sideways, a pair of pale slender hands reaching out to steady her. "Cold!"

Elsa watched in veiled amusement as Anna grasped one of her arms to help keep her balance, the other contorting behind her and reaching into her dress. Hopping slightly, Anna stretched her hand and wiggled her fingers, just barely brushing the small ice cube. Managing to slide it a bit higher, she gripped her hand around the ice and pulled it out. Splaying her hand out in front of her, she stared at the quickly melting cube for a few moments before sliding her gaze sideways and squinting suspiciously at her sister.

"Elsa…" Anna narrowed her eyes at her big sister. Elsa's face was a mask of cool indifference as she raised a pale eyebrow imperiously in response. The stalemate lasted all of ten seconds before Elsa's mask cracked, allowing her lips to twitch into an small yet impish smile and her eyes to twinkle, causing Anna to whine childishly in response. "_Elsa_!"

"Well," Elsa's voice was unapologetic. Taking advantage of the fact that their arms were still linked, she grasped the hand hanging next to her own and intertwined their fingers. Tugging lightly, she began leading them out of the loud room into the silent corridor and towards their chambers. "I wouldn't have had to resort to such measures if you would have only woken up when I called the first few times."

"I wasn't sleeping!" Anna defended herself huffily, speeding up slightly to keep up with Elsa's slightly longer and infinitely more graceful strides.

"Oh?" Elsa glanced at her, voice wry. "I suppose that means you were simply ignoring me then?"

"Exactly!" Anna nodded decisively, only to blanch moments later when the blonde's words finally registered. "Wait- No. What? Wait! That's not…"

"So?" Elsa's question was reinforced by the delicate raising of a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. It had been too long since she had last teased her little sister; it was an activity that she had sorely missed. "Which was it then?"

"It-I…" Flustered, Anna sped up and turned around so that she was facing Elsa whilst walking backwards. "I can't ignore you! Er, I mean, I wasn't because I can't- I tried once. To ignore you, I mean. Like you ignored me. I didn't last long, though-"

"Anna…" Elsa interrupted the brunette's frantic babbling, tugging the younger girl to a stop. Her voice was thick with regret due to the unintentional reminder of how she had treated her younger sibling. Gathering herself, Elsa's sorrowful blue eyes locked onto her sister's curious ones before staring downwards, her words haltingly spilling forth. "I'm… I'm so sorry I've ignored you all these years... I pushed you away to keep you safe- it was the _only_ option I could think of, but that doesn't make it _right_. I tried to get better at controlling my magic, but… every time I thought about how badly things could end up –how badly I could hurt _you_- I panicked and slipped."

"Hey, it's okay." Anna stepped closer to Elsa and squeezed her hand reassuringly, smiling brightly when their eyes locked once more. "I mean, I was horribly lonely growing up, and I couldn't understand what I did to make you hate me-"

"I've never hated you. _Never_." Elsa interrupted desperately, her voice cracking slightly. "If anything, I hated myself."

"Hey now," Anna frowned, voice serious. "Queen or not, I won't allow you to talk that way about someone I care dearly for, especially not my big sister who I love more than anything, got it?"

A light chuckle burst forth from Elsa's throat, followed closely by a sniffle. "Whom."

"What?" Anna blinked in confusion.

"It's '_whom_ I love more than anything'." Elsa explained as she used her free hand to wipe the moisture from her eyes, the liquid turning into tiny ice crystals and falling to the floor.

"_Seriously_? I'm trying to comfort you and pour my heart out and you're correcting my _grammar_?" Anna huffed with a light scowl, only to continue quickly when Elsa opened her mouth to speak. "Never mind, that's not the point. The point is, is that now I know; I know why you were distant and that you never hated me. I forgive you, but that won't change what happened or how you made me- _us_- feel for years. But…"

"But…?" Elsa prompted warily after Anna failed to continue on her own, not sure if she even wanted to know. She was overjoyed that Anna had apparently forgiven her – though she felt that such forgiveness was undeserved - but she was all too aware that no manner of apology would erase thirteen years of feeling alone and unloved.

"But now I know, a-and you have better control, s-so we don't have to go through that ever again." Anna avoided eye contact, instead staring intently at one of the sparkling ice crystals at their feet, her voice uncharacteristically meek as she whispered. "_Please_ don't put us through that again…"

Elsa stood frozen for a moment, Anna's heartfelt plea sending a pang through her heart. Without conscious thought, she surged forward and wrapped her younger sister in a tight embrace. Feeling a pair of arms wrap around her waist in return, Elsa waited silently as Anna's head burrowed into the crook of her neck and her hands clenched tightly around the material on the back of her gown. Tilting her head to rest lightly on the soft brown locks, she tightly closed her eyes.

"_Never_," Elsa whispered brokenly. Clearing her throat, her voice rose in resolve though not in volume. "I promise; never again."

Anna was silent for a few long moments, basking in the attention that she had only dreamed of for so long and yet was now being freely given. This was everything she had ever wanted ever since she was five, and she knew that if the past were to repeat itself, she would break. Despite all of this, however, there was only one way she could respond.

"I'll hold you to that promise," Anna warned softly into Elsa's neck.

Elsa's arms tightened reflexively, her low voice fiercely adamant. "Never let me forget it."

"I won't," Anna swore, nodding her head in affirmation. "I love you."

"I love you too, Anna," Elsa sighed, holding onto the younger girl for a few more moments before reluctantly letting her go. "So very, _very_ much." Gently pushing the loose white streak of hair behind Anna's ear, she smiled softly and indicated the door beside them with a tilt of her head. "We're both tired. Go to sleep; we'll see each other in the morning."

Anna nodded reluctantly, a small pout on her face. Sighing, she reached for the door handle to her room. "Good night, Elsa."

"Good night, Anna. Sweet dreams."

**O0o0O**

Elsa had just changed into her nightgown and was in the process of getting comfortable under her covers when the doors to her chamber slid open. Head snapping around, she stared as a figure slipped noiselessly inside before closing the doors again. It was only when she recognized the intruder did she relax, an exasperated sigh falling from her lips. "Anna…"

"Oh!" Anna looked up from trying to watch the floor for obstacles. Squinting through the darkness, she was just able to make out the silhouette of her sister sitting up in bed. "I-ah, I thought you'd be sleeping."

"Anna," Elsa responded through a yawn. "It's only been a few minutes since we said good night outside your room. Why aren't _you_ asleep?"

"Well-yes, but you see…" Anna stumbled over her words, trying to find a slightly less embarrassing way to ask her sister if she could sleep with her.

"Yes?" Elsa prompted.

"You owe me!" Anna blurted out, eyes widening in response to her own words. Scrambling around in her mind, she quickly pieced together a flimsy excuse. "You owe me thirteen years' worth of fun and cuddles and sleepovers, and-"

"Anna," Elsa interrupted, a soft smile sliding into place. Sliding her hand over, she grabbed the corner of her blanket closest to Anna.

"I know thirteen years is a long time, so I figured we should start right away, y'know, because it's a long time, and-"

"Anna." Pulling back the blanket, she shifted into the center of the bed, leaving plenty of room for someone to slide in next to her.

"And you know, as long as I'm sleeping in here I'm not sleeping with Kristoff. Not that I'm sleeping with Kristoff, just that I can't be sleeping in both places at once, so if I'm here that means I'm not there-"

"_Anna_," Elsa finally succeeded in gaining her babbling sister's attention, though a light frown slid onto her face. Though she approved of the ice harvester as Anna's suitor, it did not mean that she was any less protective of her younger sister. There would be no sleeping together for those two for quite some time. In fact, perhaps Anna was onto something there…

"Er, yes?" Anna grinned sheepishly.

Snapping back to the present, Elsa patted the spot next to her invitingly. "Get in."

Eyes brightening, Anna wasted no time in sliding onto the bed. Pulling the blankets up to her chin, she waited for Elsa to lie back down and get comfortable before shimmying over. Throwing an arm around her waist, she cuddled into Elsa's side, sighing in contentment as a hand gently began stroking her hair. It only took a few minutes of the gentle ministrations before heavy-lidded eyes slipped closed and the princess's breathing evening out.

"Sweet dreams." Elsa's hand stilled and slid down to curl around the brunette's shoulder. As tired and as comfortable as she was, it didn't take long at all for Elsa to follow Anna into sleep.

As The Queen of Arendelle slipped into unconsciousness, however, one last thought echoed through her mind and caused a small smile of happiness to freeze on her slumbering face.

For the first time in forever…

She felt _warm_.

**O0o0O**


End file.
